If you would like to discuss this issue with other
people, visit the Threads area
of Caryn.com
and post a message. This is a hotly debated issue--so please--no personal
attacks. Almost
everyone I get mail from seems intelligent and respectful, and I'd like to
keep the discussion
area of this site a place where debate is lively, but not nasty or mean-spirited.
Thanks!
11/5/96--Update--Proposition 215 appears to have passed!!!! Here's
the history...
On November 5, 1996, Californians will vote on Proposition 215,
a ballot initiative that would allow seriously or terminally
ill patients to use marijuana as part of their medical treatment. The initiative
would allow patients prescribed marijuana by their
doctors to be exempt from the state's criminal marijuana laws. This initiative
will affect thousands of people suffering from cancer,
glaucoma, AIDS and other diseases who can not find adequate relief from legally
available medicines.
The opponents of Proposition 215 would like to have you believe that they
are fighting against "those potheads"who, as we
all know, are the top perpetrators of the violent crime ripping apart our
society--or those bags of Doritos on a moment's notice.
That is not what this is about. It's about this.
An herb. An herb which can potentially heal. An herb which has been
used for centuries by indigenous peoples of multiple
continents. An herb which was used for its healing properties in our own
country during the Civil War.
So what's really going on here?
Politics as usual...or idiocy...whichever you prefer.
Am I being too harsh ? I don't think so. Not when I read this kind
of crap coming at me courtesy of Barry McCaffrey, Clinton's drug czar
and one of the Proposition's most outspoken opponents, who was oh so kind as
to release letters from former US Surgeon General C
Everett Koop and former US Presidents George Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald
Ford, urging people to vote against Prop 215 and a
similar Arizona initiative ( now I quote from the LA Times).
The presidents said that it sends "the
erroneous message that dangerous and addictive
drugs such as heroin, LSD, marijuana and methamphetamine are safe"
Hello? Are we on the same planet?
While I realize that Gerry was only President by default, Jimmy only
was President because Nixon was a nightmare and Gerry
pardoned him, George only was president because Dukakis looked like a moron
in a construction hat and in all his other photo
ops--I thought these men were at least intelligent enough to be able to follow
the rules of basic logic. How do we get from giving
cancer patients a hit off a joint to ease the nausea from their chemo to them
becoming speed freaks--especially when with the
exception of marijuana--none of thse drugs are even mentioned in the Proposition?
The fact is that politicans support hemp or marijuana when it suits
their political purposes (like anything else). In the 30's, hemp
was necessary for the war effort, thus we got the film, Hemp for Victory, full-fledged
pro-hemp propanganda paid for by good
old Uncle Sam. Somewhere in the 40's--hemp went out--pot smoking was in as
the beatniks became symbols for the no--goodniks
of our society. Pot was villified in the 50's and 60's and the public was exposed
to such total crap like "Reefer Madness" where
smoking a joint turns a nice boy into a rapist and our virtuous well-behaved
heroine into a raving nymphomaniac. I agree that the
70's were a mess and definitely showed the down side to excessive drug use
by baby boomers who were even more noxious when
they were wasted and old enough to know better. But it was hard to arrest everyone.
Then thanks to Reagan, I personally got to
experience the joys of being told by his Adolfo-clad wife to "Just say
No"--unless you're a Contra, and then it's "Hey, send some
my way." And Clinton, who would be pretty scary when stoned anyway so
thank God he didn't inhale, well, he's got a blind spot
when it comes to drugs because of his brother's drug abuse, plus since he's
a Democrat he could never come out for anything pro-
drug anyway because the Republicans would turn it into a media circus. People
who are fighting 215 are fighting it because they
take a blanket approach that Drugs Are Wrong (how many of them smoke and/or
drink I wonder? Then drive.) Sorry guys, but life
just ain't that simple. Just ask someone who's living with HIV.
Say No By Saying Yes
This is a bi-partisan issue. Sickness knows no boundaries
of state or political affiliation. Vote Yes on 215
if you're in California. And if you're not--write to your congressional leaders
and tell them where you stand
on this issue and that if it comes up in your state you will support what's
really right. It's no longer just an
environmentally renewable resource we're banishing--it's a chance to ease the
pain of real, live human beings.
Wow--this issue generated some mail!
Here is a conversation I had with one person--I have
reprinted here because I believe it says a lot about how
I feel about the whole issue of legalization in general. You can check it out here.
Here are some links where you can get additional information
and facts about this issue:
Prop 215 Home Page
Republicans for
Prop 215
Americans For Compassionate
Use
Hemp.Net
Oregon
Cannabis Tax Act (OCTA)OCTA would regulate cannabis
sales in Oregon's state package stores,
allow doctors to prescribe cannabis and allow farmers to grow hemp for industrial
production of thousands of
products (from cloth and paper to food and energy) and raise hundreds of millions
of dollars in state revenue.
Let
Our People Grow, a film by Suzanne Girot
Depressed by all this stupidity? Need a laugh? Here are some political
cartoons about this issue, including
the now infamous Doonesbury that showed the world what a misguided moron Dan
Lundgren is.
And remember:
If you don't vote, rest assured that the really annoying people
who believe in everything you don't, will.
